My Last Blog! Woot!

If I had the time and money, and since the sky is the limit for this assignment, I would take a dream vacation to different islands. To get around to the islands, as money is of no importance in this situation, I would take my yacht. Currently, I do not have a yacht or any kind of boat for that matter, but I think it would be awesome.

            First off, I would start sailing off the south coast of Florida to the different islands and ports comprised in the Caribbean. After that, I would sail across the Atlantic until it becomes the Pacific and travel to the various islands across the ocean, of course making a stop at Hawaii and the other beautiful places like it.

Eventually, after several months at sea, I would observe Europe’s various cultures. I would sail around the Mediterranean and probably make a few stops so that I could go further inland. While there, I will taste the foods and see the sights they have to offer.  Since I will be the owner of a yacht, I could also join the vast world of European yacht clubs so I can be with fellow owners.

Of course, one major reason that I would purchase a massive boat is so that I can have people on my massive boat. Because of this, I would continually have a giant yacht party wherever I go. Now if that does not sound like an awesome dream vacation, nothing does.

My Feelings About Something Awesome

            Have you ever seen three wolves simultaneously howling at the moon? Let me tell you, I have. This is so because of the extremely popular “3 Wolf Moon” t-shirt created by the company The Mountain. For those who haven’t seen the shirt, I have included a picture of it below:

            David Wright, Ursula Fahy, and Sadie Bass with ABC News wrote an article explaining the strange viral phenomena surrounding the shirt, said to give the wearer supernatural abilities. This endeavor began with Brian Govern, a student at Rutgers University, giving a satirical comment about the shirt on Amazon.com. Apparently, the site informed him that he might be interested in the shirt while he was buying the books for his classes. He then wrote that the first time he wore the shirt, women started to flock to him instantly. The editors of collegehumor.com soon saw the post and their readers added different comical reviews, such as, "You don't put this T-shirt on your torso, you put it on your soul," and another claimed it cured cancer. The article says the shirt at one point sold 100 per hour. Because of the hype behind it, people have been ordering the shirt, and it is the #1 seller in Amazon’s apparel line.

            The shirt itself has appeared on many television shows because of the lore behind it. For example, it was featured on NBC’s The Office, giving the character Dwight the ability to get a girl, and almost all of the major news stations have aired reports on the “3 Wolf Moon.”

            The Mountain, the company behind the shirt, now mostly just manufactures and sells this one variety of shirt. The company even includes a warning on the tag of the shirt, stating the various events that could follow putting the shirt on. I know this because I bought said shirt and am currently wearing it as I write this. Watch this YouTube video for further clarification: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPB45AUmchM

Much of the information for this blog was obtained from: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=7690387&page=1

My Research Paper Findings

            This blog is dedicated to my research findings from the research paper that I wrote entitled “Becoming a Physical Therapist and Remaining One.” That is my plan after I finish high school. After writing my paper, I learned many of the details of the career, such as how much they make annually, and some facts about a PTs relationship with their assistants.

            A good majority of my facts in the paper were found on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics website. They were very helpful in that they gave almost all of the information about physical therapy as a career in a simple format on their site. They also featured different sets of statistics about the career such as average wages based on where you live and the location where you would work. Those facts made me think about more aspects of the career that I explained more thoroughly in my paper.

Also, I found a case study about the ideal relationship between physical therapists and physical therapy assistants, which as you can tell by the name, a PTA assists a PT. The more tightly knit this relationship, normally the more efficient the work will be. My research taught me a good deal more about PTAs which I believe will help me when I become a PT.

I learned more about physical therapists and physical therapy as a whole than I expected from this assignment, like the different aspects of the job and more about the different associations representing physical therapy. For example, after physical therapist passes the National Physical Therapy Examination, they continue to have to renew their knowledge by attending various workshops and seminars explaining the most modern techniques and technology most recently developed.

This research paper helped me understand my future career more than I understood it before.

Let's Just Wing It

            What if humans had wings? I can imagine you are probably wondering why I would ask this question. Well, it seems my mind’s source for blog ideas has reached a creativity drought. Because of this, all I have to talk about is humans having wings. Now picture it: A human with large, feathery, graceful wings on its back, big enough to support flight.

            If you actually pictured it, then you would either be thinking that it would be an awesome sight, or you are probably still thinking, “Why would this guy ask that question?” For centuries, we as people have been mystified with humans having wings. From cave pictures to different modern works of art, winged humans keep appearing. Obviously, it has had its effects on our culture. Humans sporting wings have been in various books and movies. Also, it would be extremely efficient. Assuming it is not as tiring and time consuming as walking, we would most likely not even need to drive cars or ride trains to get to distant places, we could just fly there using the wings. If you have ever flown in a plane, you know the experience is quite invigorating, and I could even assume that flying with personal wings would be even more exciting.

            Regardless of your views on Darwinian natural selection, the idea that a species has developed effective mutations that the species has retained, you would have to admit that a human with wings would be quite cool, so why did we not get them through this process? If only there was some sort of scientific way we could play around with certain hormones so that we could sprout a pair of wings. Yes, if only.

            Besides the use of wings for their designed purpose, they would also look strikingly good. I know what you are thinking. “Matt, how will clothing change based on the wings?” Here is what I would suggest: Make shirts and similar articles of clothing with two respective “wing holes.” Clothing makers already put holes in pieces of clothing, so I am sure they would not mind doing it to accommodate wings.

Anyway, reader, I commend you for making it through my thoughts on this subject and hopefully I have made you consider this strange subject. By the way, this video describes perfectly what it would be like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx0Gaho2M1E

Shh!

            I have many questions in life. Here’s one. Why do people, in hopes of making a loud room of talkative individuals quiet, make a simple “Shh” noise? To our minds, or at least mine anyway, this would be a total oxymoron. It is like fighting fire with fire. As most people would understand, a fire plus a fire equals a bigger fire. However, this is not true in this case. When people hear this instinctive and distinctive utterance, they realize, through careful years of training, that they should cease talking.

You see, that is just it. We are trained to understand what people mean when the utter a simple “Shh.” If you do recall, as a child you were taught what this noise means. Since then, with every time you have heard this noise, it has been reinforced in your mind.

This same idea can be observed in a classroom. The children will be chatting with their friends about the weekend, but when they hear a bell or signal that releases them, without cessation, they will rush out the door. Why? It is because children are trained daily by the person operating the bell. Like the simple vocal oust I talked about earlier, the bell causes us to act according to what we have been trained to do. Hopefully, this blog has not made you feel a deep sense of paranoia (that I honestly might be feeling while writing this), but I hope I have brought this strange phenomenon to your attention.

Here's a clip illustrating what I'm talking about courtesy of YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlv7Bp-L2MM

PT For Me

            As this blog has been designated to talk about my research paper’s topic, it will. Since I am currently a high school student while writing this, I do not have a concrete career that I will definitely pursue. However, I have narrowed my choice to a few areas, one of them being physical therapy. For those who do not know, physical therapists help with the physical rehabilitation of patients after an injury or surgery.

            There are many reasons why I have chosen this career as a possibility. One of these is that around eleven years old, I had surgery to repair a herniated disc in my spine. As you can imagine, I had to get through quite a few sessions of physical therapy because of it. Like other children at this age, I was vulnerable to the world around me. During these sessions with educated and kind people, I found that physical therapy might be a great field of study to go into after high school. Also, besides my emotional ties to the career, I feel that the benefits and pay will be an excellent plus to my life.   

            My research paper will be exploring physical therapy as a career. In the paper, I will explain the odds and ends of my future career. For example, I will explain the work situations of the career such as the difference between working in a hospital environment and in an out-patient environment. Also, in my report, I plan to explain some facts of particular characteristics of the job while offering support from credible therapists. Lastly, I plan on discussing current discoveries and events relating to physical therapy.

            Through my report, I plan on sharing not only about the career itself, but reasons why it is right for me to look forward to.

Image Courtesy of http://professional-physical-therapy.com/treatment-services.php

The Brains of the Operation

            Have you ever taken time to think about how your brain thinks thoughts? The perplexity of how this mass conjures up random thought has puzzled me for a while now, ever since I did some deep study on it in my anatomy class last year. The brain develops the older a person gets, continually storing years of memory. Its physiology stuns me, and the fact that it fuels our basic thought processes and allows for new knowledge to come in daily is nothing short of amazing.

            As I have made mention of in my earlier post, memory is a strange thing to think about. We can live an event, totally forget about it, and then, once something comes along to remind us, our brain helps us remember again. It’s truly fascinating. As you know, memory is caused by the lump of mass in your skull, the brain. If you were to look at the brain, as I have in anatomy class, you would be shocked to see that it looks incredibly basic. Since I am only in high school, I can safely say I do not know much about anatomy and physiology, and if you told me to tell you the difference between a chunk of brain and a chunk of another random organ, I could not.

            Also, it’s stunning that this one mass can control all of the body’s function. Not only so, but the brain also allows us to multitask, something that sends my deep wonder for the brain’s function into a respecting awe. Even right now, while writing this, I can have thoughts about school, working, or what is for dinner for that matter, while still having continual thoughts about plenty of other things.

            The brain’s control over emotions is something I have an entirely different respect for. Beyond that, we as people have totally different emotions and levels of emotional thought. This allows for us to have different views on subjects and separate sets of values from each other. As I keep saying, the brain and its function are truly fascinating. This video explains some of the parts of the brain in typical 1990's cartoon fashion.